Con Te Partiro, Revolution

You will have to excuse me for a little self-indulgence today (though I will offer a slightly broader justification for posting this video in a minute).

The following video highlights of New England’s torment during their 4-0 destruction at the hands of my Chicago Fire last Thursday, set to Bocelli’s “Con Te Partiro”, was made by a friend of mine in Chicago’s Section 8 and warms the cockles of my heart. The New England players’ reactions mostly stemmed from the seventh minute dismissal of Jeff Larentowicz for a “tackle” on Chicago’s Brandon Prideaux. Enjoy.

Beyond its aesthetic brilliance, I think this kind of supporter-made video is important for MLS. We need to make people realise there are rivalries — such as the increasingly bitter one between the Fire and the Revolution — in American soccer that cut close to as deep for the organisations and hardcore fans as Liverpool-Manchester United. I’m not joking about this: I have friends in Section 8 who have taken the thousand mile trip to New England’s home, Foxboro, for three consecutive years in the playoffs and watched the Fire lose. I seriously fear for their mental health should it happen a fourth time. One could even say the same about rivalry in the USL for a Timbers fan with regard to Seattle (let’s hope that rivalry is resurrected in MLS some day).

As well as understanding the supporters’ passion, what we need is more focus on getting to know the players both on and off the field as characters. I’m glad the Fire have Blanco almost as much for his ability to piss opposing players and fans off as for his wondrous ability on the ball.

I dislike the soap opera that the English Premier League has become now — but all the same, it’s important for MLS players to be known and loved and hated outside the hardcore few. Unfortunately, the mainstream soccer media here does little to help. That’s why blogs like The Offside Rules, with their witty interviews of MLS players and focus on their lives off the field, really help.

And who are Section 8, you ask? Here we are during the New England game:

As a Fire fan I love this post so much I want to print it out and sprinkle it on a deep dish pizza. Delcious

April 9, 2008 at 1:51 pmCap Ap

We hate Sh*ttle Flounders
We hate Whitecraps, too
[’cause they suck!]
We are 107
Oh, Timbers, We Love You!

Don’t get me wrong, I won’t miss the cavernous, empty, echo chamber that is Qworst Field (SSS, right, MLS?) but it is going to take something away from the season when our Cascadia Cup Derby foes are off to MLS. The Vancouver/Portland rivalry has a little bit of steam but nowhere near the amount of emotion that goes into it when the Timbers face off against the mouthbreathers from up north. There’s quite a bit of homemade Timbers vid on the web, I’d recommend just going to Youtube and searching Portland, Timbers, Army if anyone is interested. Oh, and for NE to even try to make the arguement that that tackle was legit is laughable. Sorry Revs, try to get a football player, not a hured thug, the next time!

April 9, 2008 at 5:06 pmSpanglyPrincess

Funnily enough, my one and only sporting experience in the States was going to see the Fire when I was in Chicago in 2001. It was at Soldier Field, and I remember seeing Novak and Stoichkov, excitingly, and DaMarcus Beasley. I don’t remember the game very well (or really at all – beer may have been involved) but a spot of research suggests it was against Columbus Crew. Good story, huh? Check my journalistic attention to accuracy.

Anyway, though the crowd was quite small and the stadium huge and echoing, I remember being distinctly impressed by the level of mentalness on display by a considerable proportion of the crowd. As a first and so far only encounter with MLS, I was favourably impressed, and so I have retained a soft spot for them. Even if the club crest looks like they’re angling for a role in the Wars of the Roses.

Look, he clearly would have been playing the ball if only there’d been a 10″ divot right where he started his slide. Maybe he just assumed there was one. Based on what I’ve heard about some MLS pitches this year, it wouldn’t have been totally insane.

April 10, 2008 at 1:19 pmpapa bear

thank you x 10 for posting that last picture. I am SOOOO sick of hearing Revs fans complain about that. you could photoshop Eduardo’s head over Prideaux and Taylor’s over Larentewicz (sp?) and there would be no difference in how the ‘tackles’ were made. Thankfully, only the end result was different.

One final note to Revs fans: the other player doesn’t have to be crippled to get a red card. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true.

April 10, 2008 at 3:20 pmMatth

I was wondering where the Fire postings had got to (and missing them mightily, Tom). Even if this is the only post of the season, it is more than fulfills my need for sparkling commentary on the Fire.

And I don’t know how that isn’t a red card, either.

As a final note, to Brian, never speak ill of the Bridgeview pitch. It may eat up passes like mad, the grass may be a little too long (at least according to John Terry), but one thing it is not is filled with 10″ divots.

Fair enough, Matth. Just trying to play devil’s advocate. I mean, if he hadn’t been going studs-up right at Prideaux’s ankle, he would hardly even have deserved the red card!

April 11, 2008 at 12:21 amjoejoejoe

Spangly Princess – The shape of the Chicago Fire logo is close to an exact knockoff of the actual Chicago Fire Department logo. Click the link in my name to a mix of both logos.

More from the Chicago Fire website: “The six points in the middle of the logo are representative of the four six-pointed stars in the “City of Chicago” flag. The four stars in the city’s flag represent four monumental events in the history of our great city, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World’s Fairs of 1893 & 1933 and the Ft. Dearborn Massacre.”

April 14, 2008 at 8:03 pmTimoteo

Actually, that soundtrack would go perfectly with a slowmotion video of Blanco whining to the referees and flopping about the pitch like he does 95 percent of the time.